The Hunt for Nothing, Part 1
Curious Cases
BBC
4.8 • 4.1K Ratings
🗓️ 2 December 2016
⏱️ 15 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
"Is there any such thing as nothing?" This question from Bill Keck sparked so much head scratching that we have devoted two episodes to this curious quandary.
In the first programme, the team considers the philosophy and physics of nothing. As Prof Frank Close, author of "Nothing: A Very Short Introduction" explains, nothing has intrigued great thinkers for thousands of years, from the Ancient Greeks to today's particle physicists.
Otto Von Geuricke, the Mayor of Magdeburg in Germany, invented the artificial vacuum pump in the 17th century and presented spectacular displays to demonstrate the awesome power of nothing.
Cosmologist Andrew Pontzen helps Hannah search for nothing in the depths of space and inside the atom. However, as they find out, recent discoveries in physics involving quantum fluctuations and the Higgs field have proved that nothing is impossible.
If you have any Curious Cases for the team to solve please email curiouscases@bbc.co.uk
Presenters: Adam Rutherford & Hannah Fry Producer: Michelle Martin.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to episode two of the curious cases of Rutherford and Fry. |
| 0:03.5 | Yes, now this question is another one of the questions we like dealing with because they actually |
| 0:08.4 | have come from a previous program. It's not the first time that this has happened. |
| 0:12.4 | How where are... It's not the first question extra that we've had on this particular program either. |
| 0:17.0 | No, it's not. But I see... Yes, this is another one. |
| 0:19.8 | It's not even spheres inspired a lot of extra questions. |
| 0:22.1 | Yeah, most of them seem to rotate around my weight. |
| 0:26.8 | Do I don't think it's such a big issue? |
| 0:28.8 | Yeah, I possibly should have thought a bit longer and harder before I... |
| 0:33.3 | What did you actually say? |
| 0:34.5 | I don't know what the end of this sentence is. |
| 0:36.0 | No, what did you say? You said... |
| 0:37.2 | I think I called you a bit Poggy and then there was some stuff about crisps and I said I'm saying nothing. |
| 0:42.5 | Right. I like crisps. |
| 0:45.0 | Yeah, I like crisps too, man. |
| 0:47.3 | Yeah, but look at your girth compared to mine. |
| 0:49.6 | We've been through this already. |
| 0:50.8 | I have eight months pregnant! |
| 0:52.5 | Yeah, okay. That is not an unreasonable excuse. |
| 0:57.3 | This episode is part one of two on the concept of nothing. |
| 1:01.1 | In this one, it's all a bit philosophical and... |
| 1:04.1 | Well, does nothing exist? |
... |
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